


Time Can't Change Everything

by EzzyDean



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 21:50:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1403683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikoshiba didn't leave on the best of terms but he's here now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Can't Change Everything

The invitation to the party was a shock.  After the way they had parted he wouldn’t have been surprised to never see or hear from him again.  But here he was, standing nervously outside the house.  What did he even have to be nervous about?  Anyone there was bound to be younger than him and probably barely remembered him, even if it had only been a year since they had last met.  A cool breeze kicked up and he looked at the sky.  Clouds were moving in pretty quickly and he hoped that he wouldn’t get drenched on his way home.

 

"Captain Mikoshiba, right?"  He looked down and took in the kind green eyes.

"Ah!  Captain Tachibana, yes?"  When the younger man laughed he felt himself relaxing.  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

"Good memory!  Come in.  I think almost everyone else is here."  He let himself be led down the hall.

"Are there a lot of people here, Tachibana?"

"Ah, not really."  The brunette ahead of him paused for a moment, turning to look at him.  "Pretty much just us Iwatobi boys.  And Rin and Kou, of course."  He smiled, relieved that at least he would know the people here, even if it was only their names.  A grey haired head crashed into his chest and laughter flowed from the room ahead.

"You so do not play fair, Nagisa!"  The blue eyes looked at him and widened.  "Senpai!"  Nitori shouted before happily wrapping his arms around his captain’s chest.

"Nitori.  You grew.  A lot."  Nitori pulled back and stood up straight, nearly eye to eye with his captain now, and pulled him into the room, leaving Tachibana to follow, shaking his head.

"Yeah I’m a lot taller now.  And Nagisa’s jealous that he didn’t quite get the same growth spurt."  The blonde stuck out his tongue and threw a pillow in their general direction.  Unfortunately his aim was horrible and Mikoshiba caught the pillow square in the face.

"Nagisa!"  Tachibana threw him a horrified glance and started to apologize.

"Don’t worry about it."  Mikoshiba grinned.  "I can handle a few unruly kids."  He shot Nagisa a challenging glance and laughed as the younger man stuck out his tongue at him.

"Real mature, Nagisa."  Rin walked in from another room, holding a tray of snacks in his hand.  His sister was close behind with drinks.

"Oh, Captain Mikoshiba!  I’m glad you made it!"  Kou gave him a kind smile and set the drinks on the low table.  "Have a seat somewhere."  He glanced around the room.  Tachibana had seated himself on the couch in between, if he remembered correctly, Nanase and Ryugazaki.  Nagisa was sprawled on the ground in front of the younger Matsuoka sibling, who had taken the only chair, with Nitori right beside him.  Rin was sitting in front of the table across from his sister.  Which basically left Seijuro only one spot if he didn’t want to block the tv and the movie that was playing.  He sat down next to Rin and tried not to notice the way he had stiffened up ever so slightly.  Apparently he hadn’t forgotten the way they parted either.  It had been messy and angry and nothing close to what either of them wanted.  But that was then, he thought as he looked at the laughing faces around him.  This is now.  Maybe this was his chance to try again.

The night drifted by on a sea of laughter and jokes.  They shared memories and embarrassing stories about each other.  There was one moment when he had to pull out his old captain voice and scold Nitori and Nagisa for stealing Ryugazaki’s glasses and hiding them in the bookcase, causing the young man to stumble across the floor and into Kou’s lap.

"Aw, Rei.  You could have just asked for a hug."  She had laughed kindly at him as he mumbled an apology and stood up.

"Ok, you two.  Give them back before someone gets hurt."  He had switched into captain mode and both guys groaned as they shuffled to the bookcase.  Ryugazaki gave him a grateful nod and slipped his glasses on.

Now he was staring across the table and shaking his head.

"Where does all that energy come from?"  He asked softly as he helped Rin collect the dishes scattered about the room.

"Hell if I know.  They’re bad enough alone but once they’re in the same room together," he let out a little shudder and shook his head, "they’re downright dangerous."  Everyone else had drifted off to sleep, Kou being sleepily forced to her room by Rin, and they were the only ones left.  They placed the dishes in the sink and Rin started to run some water to wash them.  "You can help if you want."  He muttered, staring at the water filling the sink.  It was a small truce, the barest sliver of an olive branch, but Seijuro was willing to grab onto it.

"Sure."  They spent the time in companionable silence, Rin washing the dishes and Seijuro drying them before finding where they went.  Rin didn’t offer to tell him and he didn’t ask.  The fact that Rin didn’t mind him poking through the cupboards was oddly comforting.  When they finished Rin drained the sink and walked out.  After a moment Seijuro followed, unsure of what to do now.  He glanced in the living room and but didn’t see Rin.

"Over here."  His soft voice carried down the hall and Seijuro followed.  He was always following Rin, even back when they were in school together his eyes would follow the younger man, but he didn’t mind.  He had always been confident Rin that could lead him where he needed to be.  Sitting on the edge of Rin’s bed in the dark he wondered just where it was he wanted to be led.  Rin flopped down on the bed behind him.  "I didn’t think you’d actually show."

"I wasn’t sure if I should."  His fingers tugged at the edge of his jacket as he thought about it.  "I was surprised you didn’t punch me in the face when you saw me."  Rin’s laugh surprised him and he felt some of the tension leave his shoulders.

"I thought about it.  Then realized I’d have to get through the entire group and not spill the snacks.  Nagisa would have hurt me if I wasted all that food."

"At least everything seems to be settled with all of you.  You have some good people supporting you."

"Yeah but, as my sister is fond of pointing out, I let the biggest support I had at school get away from me because of my pride."  Rin’s hand was warm, even through his jacket, and Seijuro turned to study him in the moonlight.  The smile on Rin’s face broke every defense he had built up in the last year and he reached out and put an unsteady hand on Rin’s chest.

"I really am sorry for how things happened."  The biggest surprise in a night filled with surprises hit him then.  Rin reached up and tugged him down onto the bed next to him, wrapping around him like a blanket and resting his head on his chest.

"I am too.  But I think they had to happen that way."

"But you had to go through this past year alone."

"I wasn’t completely alone.  I had all of them.  I needed to see that."  His chest felt ready to burst as hope filled him.  Was Rin saying what he thought he was?  "I’ve been thinking a lot lately, now that I’ve graduated.  The main reason I invited you tonight was to ask you something."  He caught his breath, waiting.

"And the question?"

"You wanna go out with me again?"  The laugh he let out was a mixture of pain and relief.  Thankfully some things never really changed.

"What a ridiculous question.  Of course I don’t."  Rin tensed and started to pull away but Seijuro hugged him close.  "Because in my mind and heart, I never really broke up with you."  Rin groaned and buried his face in Seijuro’s neck, laughing.

"You have always used the cheesiest lines."

"But they always work on you."  They drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.  When Kou peeked in the next morning she happily shook her head.  After all this time her brother finally looked peaceful.  Guys were such idiots sometimes.


End file.
